Published Aug 23, 2023 | 12:45 AM ⚊ Updated Aug 23, 2023 | 12:45 AM
Bhagwant Mann visiting flood affected areas with officials. (Supplied)
Amidst ongoing farmer protests across Haryana and Punjab for flood relief packages, the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government has announced the disbursement of relief of over ₹186 crore.
Announcing the relief, Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management Minister Bram Shanker Jimpa said that this was to compensate for the crop loss of the farmers of the districts affected by floods.
He added that advance funds had been released to the deputy commissioners of 16 districts of the state from the Natural Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) to provide relief for the crop damage.
Jimpa said that in the months of July and August, the crops of farmers were damaged due to floods in many areas and a special “girdawari” had been conducted in all the flood-affected areas of the state.
“Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann fulfilled his promise to the flood victims on 15 August and initiated the process to hand over cheques of compensation. The government is committed to providing compensation to the flood victims and has no dearth of funds for this purpose,” said Jimpa.
He added that ₹26 crore had been given to the Sangrur district, ₹22.4 crore to the Ferozepur district, ₹26.5 crore to Tarn Taran, ₹59.5 crore to Patiala, and ₹12.9 crore to Mansa as relief for crop loss due to floods.
Similarly, ₹3.7 crore has been given to the Amritsar district, ₹8.8 crore to Fazilka, ₹5.85 crore to Gurdaspur, ₹2.3 crore to Jalandhar, ₹2.3 to Ludhiana, ₹4 crore to Moga, ₹1.26 crore to SBS Nagar, ₹1.6 crore to Fatehgarh Sahib, and ₹1.7 crore to the SAS Nagar district.
The announcement comes a day after a farmer died in clashes with police while farmers were staging a protest seeking flood compensation.
It may be noted that thousands of farmers in Punjab and Haryana are protesting and marching to Chandigarh seeking flood relief.
Both state governments have detained several farm leaders under precautionary measures and deployed heavy police force.
Mann had been visiting the flood-affected areas to assess the situation on the ground. He had announced that every loss of crop, cattle, house or anything else would be covered in the special girdawari to fully compensate the people.
